Time for new building codes in California

originally posted by: Wildbob77
Time for new building codes in fire prone areas?

Like building houses on flood plains. Don't do it.

The answer is to bulldoze the natural environment so fires don't start. If you do that then why bother?

a reply to: Wildbob77

I don't live in Cali or anywhere near where wildfires will rage large like cali but I have a cheaper idea;

Water sprinklers on every house roof... like they have in busines's! They go off when the heat becomes too hot and if there's no sign of immediate fire, the owner switches them off or there's a timer that switches them off automatcally once it's decided no threat or/and you also have an alarm that goes off at the fire station and people there monitor the area on screen connected to cctv and if there's no actual fire, they switch them off remotely or they can leave them going until they arrive on scene... or maybe drones get sent to monitor the area til th threat is no more and remotely swirch the sprinklers off.

Maybe you could have a sprinkler in each garden too... Maybe even set these sprinklers up in the trees and bushes! Would probably cost a lot but would be worth it I'd say...

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: Wildbob77
Time for new building codes in fire prone areas?

Like building houses on flood plains. Don't do it.

The answer is to bulldoze the natural environment so fires don't start. If you do that then why bother?

That's what i thought was someones plan in the first place.. cut down the natural bush and trees to replace with more buldings and concrete!

a reply to: Mahogany

Everywhere in America, whether it's commercial or residential, is mostly wood and dry-wall.

My dad designed the house I grew up in and then he and my grand dad built 90% of it, they did concrete and brick walls, with rebar stuck like 10 feet into the ground to the top of the wall, they built the house in 75 down in central florida as well as building up the ground they put the foundation so it say about 8 feet higher than the neighbors homes.

Since then the only damage the house has taken is to the shingles, no flood damage no wall damage.

So it is possible to have a sturdy disaster resistant home built, its just not simple and easy.

originally posted by: Mahogany
a reply to: Wildbob77

Our houses are made of wood. How do you make wood not burn?

For decades we've been made fun of that our construction sucks, that we don't use brick or stone because it's slower and more expensive. Everywhere in America, whether it's commercial or residential, is mostly wood and dry-wall.

Those two things are always going to burn, unlike rock. But our construction is cheap and it comes up very fast. You drive around town and all of a sudden there is a new bank or a restaurant up that wasn't there 2 weeks ago. You think it's gonna stand for long if it took 2 weeks to build?

Come up easy, come down easy.

it does sound as if you should be right. yet it's also the stuff IN houses, as well as things like paint that burn. things like curtains, carpets, wood floors, furniture, clothing, plastics etc. pretty much everything one finds inside a home. plus paint, siding, decks, shingles and the like on the outside of homes (again all pretty much flammable). in fact in the Philippines for example most houses are built of brick and cement (being both cheap and quick/easy to build). and with steel roofs (yet again being cheaper and quicker). yet fires have a habit of causing hundreds of people to loose their homes in one fire. in fact quite literally across the road from me 8 houses burned down one night (i was in north America at the time). ALL the houses that burned down were built out of brick and cement (poured concrete is a very popular building material, because it's fast and cheap), and had steel roofs. in fact the one house that did not burn down, and in fact stopped the fire from spreading further was the one that was empty, and was pretty much stripped down to the walls and floors for renovation. it was the fact that nothing was in the house and pretty much all non cement/brick features (ie everything flammable) stripped out, that stopped it from burning. so really until we get rid of all the flammable material inside and outside of houses, ie all of people's possessions. and things that people like, like carpets, curtains, wood trim ect, it really does not matter what the shell is made of, it will still burn down.


and just so you know drywall is used and is called for in fire codes because it is supposed to help stop the spread of fire.

You DON"T have to build very expensive steel stud based all fireproof homes.

Just building homes that are fire proof on the outside surface will stop 95% of home losses in wild fires.

Building with stucco on the outside and metal or tile roofs and fire proof treated wood on all outside wood surfaces.

Auto shutting shields on windows.

One thing i see over and over is burned out homes with full swimming pools. Most could have a pump and sprinkler system to wet down the home and grounds around protecting the home for a lot less then the cost of rebuilding the home and loss of contents.

I think you guys are a little delusional about the power of these kinds of fires.

Have you seen the cars???

No wood on them and they practically MELT down to nothing.

Modern concrete and steel studs aren't going to help you much...

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Mahogany

Everywhere in America, whether it's commercial or residential, is mostly wood and dry-wall.

My dad designed the house I grew up in and then he and my grand dad built 90% of it, they did concrete and brick walls, with rebar stuck like 10 feet into the ground to the top of the wall, they built the house in 75 down in central florida as well as building up the ground they put the foundation so it say about 8 feet higher than the neighbors homes.

Since then the only damage the house has taken is to the shingles, no flood damage no wall damage.

So it is possible to have a sturdy disaster resistant home built, its just not simple and easy.

that is actually a standard construction technique used here. brick with rebar running through it, from bottom all the way to the top. and the rest of the holes in the brick filled up with concrete. i certainly don't see what is not simple and easy about such construction. it's far simpler, easier, cheaper and faster than building than using the normal North American stud and drywall style of building. which takes far more work to build. while it does withstand things like typhoons and flooding well, it totally sucks for earthquakes. being far too rigid so it breaks. so not a good idea for an earthquake prone area such as California.

the nicest places to live seemes the worst places to build an house... forrest/seaside /riverbanks /mountains/valleys..
how to deal with fire / tsunami's/ flooding/ lahars….

a reply to: generik

brick with rebar running through it, from bottom all the way to the top. and the rest of the holes in the brick filled up with concrete. i certainly don't see what is not simple and easy about such construction. it's far simpler, easier, cheaper and faster than building than using the normal North American stud and drywall style of building.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

originally posted by: ANNED
You DON"T have to build very expensive steel stud based all fireproof homes.

Just building homes that are fire proof on the outside surface will stop 95% of home losses in wild fires.

Building with stucco on the outside and metal or tile roofs and fire proof treated wood on all outside wood surfaces.

Auto shutting shields on windows.

i'm sorry but you are wrong. the problem is not the surface materials on buildings. the problem is HEAT. you do not need a flame to start a fire. all you need is heat to the temperature that whatever material catches fire at. so unless you have a way to somehow completely insulate the outside walls so that the heat of such a fire can not enter the house, you could have steel or brick/rock walls without a spot of paint, a piece of wood or anything else, and the stuff inside[i] the house will still catch fire just due to the ambient heat produced by the fire. just having a fireproof shell does nothing to stop a house from burning in such fires.